Pork Chops with Apple Sauce and Blue Cheese
These Pork Chops are soft, juicy and loaded with flavour. They're topped with apple sauce and finished with melted blue cheese!
Servings: 2
Cost: £4 / $5
Equipment
- Large Frying Pan & Tongs
- Spoon (for basting)
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Paper Towels
Ingredients
- 2x 9oz-11oz / 250-300g Pork Chops, brought close to room temp (preferably bone in)
- 4oz / 120g Blue Cheese, sliced into strips (see notes)
- 4 heaped tbsp Apple Sauce, at room temp (not straight out the fridge)
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 fresh springs EACH: Thyme, Rosemary (plus some thyme leaves to finish)
- 2 cloves of Garlic, peeled & crushed with the palm of your hand
- Olive Oil, as needed
- Salt & Pepper, as needed
Instructions
- Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Generously sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper then drizzle with a glug of oil. Rub into the meat.
- Place pan over high heat and once smoking hot add in the pork chops. Leave to fry for 3-5mins, or until deep golden and lightly charred with blood/moisture just starting to rise to the surface. Flip the chops over and allow to fry for 1min until they begin to char on the other side.
- Drop in butter, garlic, thyme and rosemary. Baste the pork chops in butter for another 2-3mins. Place garlic, rosemary and thyme on top of one of the chops, place the other chop on top so the fats align then sandwich together with your tongs and sear the fat on the pan.
- Once the fat caramelizes (1-2mins) take the pan off the heat. Top the pork with apple sauce and blue cheese then place under the grill and broil on high (and fairly close) until the cheese melts.
- Take the pork out of the pan and allow to rest for at least 3 mins (important so the meat can retain its juices), drizzle over some of the liquid from the pan and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. Serve up and enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) Prepping the pork - Important the meat is close to room temp. Don't fry it straight from the fridge or it'll seize up and go chewy. Also ensure they're patted dry to remove moisture. Moisture will prevent caramelization. If there's a considerable amount of fat on the chop you might want to consider making tiny slices into the fat. This will prevent the pork from curving/curling up in the fat.
b) Timings - This is a very quick recipe, so it's important to have everything prepped and ready to go. Pork is renowned for being dry and the longer the pork is in the pan over what it needs to be, the more chance it'll come out dry. I recommend getting your grill nice and hot before the pork goes in, just so it only take a minute to melt the cheese.
c) Cooked Pork - In general timings will depend on the thickness of the pork. The meat should be white all the way through and it's recommend to get to a safe temp of 145F/63C with the juices running clear. Keep in mind it'll continue cooking slightly as it rests.
d) Cheese - I like Gorgonzola because it's nice and creamy. If you want a stronger blue cheese use something like a Stilton. I have tried this with a nice sharp cheddar and it works well, but blue cheese add a lot more flavour.
e) Serving - Here I serve with Roasted Baby Potatoes and Roasted Broccolini.
f) Calories - per pork chop assuming 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt and pepper:
Nutrition
Calories: 774kcal | Carbohydrates: 5.95g | Protein: 64.66g | Fat: 53.39g | Saturated Fat: 23.814g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.441g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20.436g | Trans Fat: 0.233g | Cholesterol: 230mg | Sodium: 1433mg | Potassium: 1052mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 3.18g | Vitamin A: 709IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 364mg | Iron: 2.21mg